Aoun Warns of Jihadist Bid to Storm Syria's Bloudan: You're Either with Nusra or with Maalula

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday revealed that the extremist al-Nusra Front is preparing to storm the mainly Christian Syrian town of Bloudan near Damascus, lashing out at those who are allegedly backing the jihadist group instead of supporting the historic neighboring town of Maalula.

“We were surprised by a cable received by OTV and FPM's website saying '… amid the assault on the town of Maalula, al-Nusra Front is trying to invade the Christian town of Bloudan, and we are raising our voice because we need greater protection.'”

“We fear that the Front might enter the town like what happened in Maalula and we fear being slaughtered. We hope our message will be delivered to the patriarchs, as al-Nusra Front is encircling the town and we have not seen any reinforcements or strong response until the moment and we can't but defend ourselves," Aoun quoted the cable's authors as saying.

“We have contacted the patriarchs so that they in turn contact the Syrian officials,” Aoun said.

Former French president Nicolas “Sarkozy said Christians have no place in the Middle East, but we don't want a protection for Christians, we rather want the implementation of human rights. They're saying that they're fighting in Syria for the sake of human rights, doesn't that include Christians? Are they discriminating between Muslims and Christians?” Aoun added.

The FPM leader noted that “human rights involve the freedom of belief and the freedom of the human.”

“We want protection from al-Nusra Front, which is killing and slaughtering,” he added.

“In Egypt, Sunnis themselves did not tolerate the extremism and they quickly reevaluated their political and social situations, and we all have the right to identify the problem,” Aoun said, referring to the ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi by a popular-backed military takeover.

Aoun pointed out that rival Lebanese politicians have said that “no monasteries were torched in Maalula.”

“Where did the published pictures come from? Let's suppose that they (Syrian rebels and jihadists) have not committed any violations, why did they enter Maalula? A funeral has been held for three victims and Greek Catholic Patriarch (Gregory III) Laham prayed for their souls,” Aoun noted.

“We will not accept to remain silent over this issue and this is a series that started in Palestine and moved to Iraq and Egypt, where so many Copts decided to leave the country. But we will remain here and those justifying the deeds of those who are slaughtering them are spineless. They are not a resistance because resistance must start in the head first. They must stand on their feet and become aware of the problem instead of being anesthetized,” Aoun added, in reference to the Christians of the rival March 14 camp which supports the Syrian revolt.

“There is the Nusra and there is Maalula. You can be either with the Nusra or with Maalula and the difference between the two is like the difference between hell and heaven, and those who choose hell can remain in hell,” he added.

Noting that the rebel attack on Maalula was unjustified, Aoun said the town “can be monitored with the satellites of world powers and they can tell if they Syrian army is inside the town.”

“Nothing justifies the presence of fighters in the town, as it was a peaceful town that was not taking part in the fighting and that did not harbor any fighters. I visited it and it contains monasteries. I visited the Mar Jerjes Monastery that they have torched,” he added, reminiscing his visit to Syria.

Aoun went on to say that Italian Jesuit priest “Father Paolo (Dall'Oglio) was slaughtered when he tried to mediate the release of a hostage.”

Turning to the domestic issues, Aoun said: “We do not approve of the (caretaker) cabinet's performance and God willing, there will be a surprise that we will make regarding the manner in which laws are being issued.”

Maalula is an ancient town that symbolizes the Christian presence in Syria and where residents speak Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus Christ used by few communities around the world.

The town north of Damascus had been spared from the violence that has rocked Syria since March 2011, until last week, when violence broke out there for the first time since the conflict erupted.

Syrian rebels, including jihadists linked to al-Qaida, have taken control of Maalula north of Damascus, a watchdog and residents said on Sunday.

Timeline

10 September 2013, 17:18

Aoun: We do not approve of the (caretaker) cabinet's performance and God willing, there will be a surprise that we will make regarding the manner in which laws are being issued.

10 September 2013, 17:16

Aoun: Father Paolo was slaughtered when he tried to mediate the release of a hostage.

10 September 2013, 17:14

Aoun: Maalula can be monitored with the satellites of world powers and they can tell if they Syrian army is inside the town. Nothing justifies the presence of fighters in the town, as it was a peaceful town that was not taking part in the fighting and did not harbor any fighters. I visited it and it contains monasteries. I visited the Mar Jerjes Monastery that they have torched.

10 September 2013, 17:11

Aoun: There is the Nusra and there is Maalula. You can be either with the Nusra or with Maalula and the difference between the two is like the difference between hell and heaven, and those who choose hell can remain in hell.

10 September 2013, 17:09

Aoun: We will not accept to remain silent over this issue and this is a series that started in Palestine and moved to Iraq and Egypt, where so many Copts decided to leave the country. But we will remain here and those justifying the deeds of those who are slaughtering them are spineless. They are not a resistance because resistance must start in the head first. They must stand on their feet and become aware of the problem instead of being anesthetized.

10 September 2013, 17:07

Aoun: They're saying that no monasteries were torched in Maalula, so where did the published pictures come from? Let's suppose that they (Syrian rebels and jihadists) have not committed any violations, why did they enter Maalula? A funeral has been held for three victims and Catholic Patriarch Laham prayed for their souls.

10 September 2013, 17:06

Aoun: In Egypt, Sunnis themselves did not tolerate the extremism and they quickly reevaluated their political and social situations, and we all have the right to identify the problem.

10 September 2013, 17:06

Aoun: Human rights involve the freedom of belief and the freedom of the human ... we want protection from al-Nusra Front, which is killing and slaughtering.

10 September 2013, 17:05

Aoun: Sarkozy said Christians have no place in the Middle East, but we don't want a protection for Christians, we rather want the implementation of human rights. They're saying that they're fighting in Syria for the sake of human rights, doesn't that include Christians? Are they discriminating between Muslims and Christians?

10 September 2013, 17:04

FPM leader MP Michel Aoun after weekly meeting of Change and Reform bloc: We were surprised by a cable received by OTV and FPM's website saying "amid the assault on the town of Maalula, al-Nusra Front is trying to invade the Christian town of Bloudan, and we are raising our voice because we need greater protection. We fear that the Front might enter the town like what happened in Maalula and we fear being slaughtered. We hope our message will be delivered to the patriarchs, as al-Nusra Front is encircling the town and we have not seen any reinforcements or strong response until the moment and we can't but defend ourselves."

10 September 2013, 17:04

Aoun: We have contacted the patriarchs so that they in turn contact the Syrian officials.

it's take from the exorcist. again, typical feat tactics used by Adolphe the German 70 years ago. In the end, it was Adolphe who murdered 6 millions of his own, not to mention the millions who died of hunger or direct war injuries. We need to keep an eye on this psychopath saviour of Christians.

no it seems like you are insane. you talk BS but what you forget is that he is the only one speaking up for the Christians in the Levant. In the mean time, m14 is supporting those who are killing them.

"soon lebanon will be drained of their minorities so that american corporations have a more homogeneous population to sell their mass production products to "
LOL aoun was the biggest fan of the usa!!! LOL under republican rule LOL...

another attempt to scare people by aounis who fool only themselves... remember how the assads killed christians in lebanon when it suited their policies! and now you say they defend christians? LOL!! so comic.....
all sects are minorities in lebanon in case FT does not know!

That is twisted logic. If there are disagreements between different groups of same religion, a deadly confrontation does not necessarily arise from religious differences. Case on point, Aoun's disagreements with the other Christian group(s) were driven from political (whose alliance to keep) differences. This is a prime example why religion has no business in politics. As long as the Arabs, Turks and Persians continue to and insist on defining themselves through the muddy lenses of religion, the M.E., as it has been for the last 3 thousands years or so, will always be a powder keg. Long live the brave and smart Egyptian people for taking such a important and strong stance in opposition to religious mongers/idiots. I hope the Egyptian decision lasts long enough and/or has the capacity to be a model to the rest of M.E. to imitate.

oh no FT... all this is based on testimonies of his close collaborators at the time... sorry it hurts your feelings as you cannot stand following a liar so you do whatever you can to try and deny facts so hard that at the end you believe you are the only person right.... it requires medical attention if you do not want to wake up a morning sicker than ever....

(one little example of your denials: you deny syrians and their lebanese ally had anything to do with the killing of hariri when aoun was the first one to point at them! LOL...)

1/ if bahia hariri funded terrorist groups how come she is not in jail? how come your prophet aoun still is leaving her free?
2/ aoun stated that the day bashar leaves lebanon he would send islamist groups to destabilize and create chaos in lebanon....
(oh! i guess aoun was lying then! )

so yes FT keep on defending your brave bashar and his regime, you are just spitting on the memories of the hundreds of christian lebanese who died fighting this regime... and you claim to defend christian rights? LOL you are a big joke....but no wonder from one supporting a leader who told to the mothers of the kidnapped lebanese to turn the page and forget.... shame on you

FT: Your claim that Aoun is the only person who fired at the Syrian occupier would undoubtedly be the quote of the century. When you people read this crap decorated with FT's twisted logic, why do you engage him. Truth is what he proclaims and of course backed up by facts. You ignorant retard, we were there, we lived the times, you are not lecturing children that were born yesterday. If you have a problem with the LF, take it out on them, do not defend this monster.

Patriotic Iranian, From Iran to Jabal Amel, I've never seen that that beautiful lady, well except Haifa. If you have a number I would like to ask you out if you agree ... "7asab el share3 ya3ni" Leagal.. a week would be enough.